Refuseth Not This Offer

Mario Puzos Godfather has been hailed as Shakespearean in its scope, and Francis Ford Coppolas film adaptation has the same devoted following that the Bards finest work claims. David C. Mann brings William and Mario together in Corleone: The Shakespearean Godfather, a post-modern mash-up of mob hits and iambic pentameter. Set in seventeenth-century New York City, Corleone has capos and buttonmen who wield swords instead of machine guns, but the end result is the same: People get whacked, power corrupts and Luca Brasi with the fishes sleeps. There are in-jokes aplenty for the Godfather faithful as well as the Shakespearean set, but at a tidy 70 minutes or so in length, the show doesnt bog down in shot re-creation or excess detail. The plays still the thing, and the Non Prophet Theater Company is determined to give you your moneys worth in this two-for-one production. Corleone: The Shakespearean Godfather plays at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday (September 27 through October 7) at the Regional Arts Commission; please note, there is no performance on Friday, October 5, and the Saturday, October 6, show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 to $15; call 314-752-5075 for reservations, or visit www.nptco.org for more information.
Thursdays-Saturdays; Oct. 6-7. Starts: Sept. 28. Continues through Oct. 4, 2007